Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said that they will try again on December 14
\n SEOUL
\nSouth Korea\u2019s main opposition party said Sunday it will try again to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law.
\nMeanwhile police arrested the defense minister in charge of the martial law operation, and the interior minister resigned. Both they and Yoon are being investigated for alleged insurrection.
\nYoon averted impeachment late Saturday as huge crowds braved freezing temperatures in another night of protests outside parliament to demand the president\u2019s ouster.
\nOpposition parties proposed the impeachment motion, which needed 200 votes in the 300-member parliament to pass, but a near-total boycott by Yoon\u2019s People Power Party (PPP) doomed it to failure.
\nLee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), said Sunday that they will try again on December 14.
\n\u201cYoon, the principal culprit behind the insurrection and military coup that destroyed South Korea\u2019s constitutional order, must either resign immediately or be impeached without delay,\u201d Lee told reporters.
\n\u201cOn December 14, our Democratic Party will impeach Yoon in the name of the people.\u201d
\nIn exchange for blocking his removal from office, Yoon\u2019s People Power Party (PPP) said that it had \u201ceffectively obtained (Yoon\u2019s) promise to step down.\u201d
\n\u201cEven before the president steps down, he will not interfere in state affairs, including foreign affairs,\u201d PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said Sunday after a meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.
\nThis will \u201cminimize the confusion to South Korea and its people, stably resolve the political situation and recover liberal democracy,\u201d Han told reporters.
\nBut Lee and the National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik, both from the opposition Democratic Party (DP), on Sunday called the arrangement illegal.
\n\u201cFor the prime minister and the ruling party to jointly exercise presidential authority, which no one has granted them, without participating in constitutional processes to address unconstitutional martial law, is a clear violation of the Constitution,\u201d Woo said.
\n\u201cThe power of the president is not the personal property of President Yoon Suk Yeol,\u201d said Lee. \u201cIsn\u2019t this another coup that destroys the constitutional order?\u201c
\nKim Hae-won, a constitutional law professor at Pusan National University Law School, called it a an \u201cunconstitutional soft coup.\u201d
\n\u201cIn reality, a political party is merely a private political entity, and handing over the president\u2019s functions to an entity that is neither a constitutional institution nor a state body seems like an action that disrupts the state\u2019s rights,\u201d Kim said.
\nOn Saturday before the vote, Yoon, 63, reappeared for the first time in three days and apologized for the \u201canxiety and inconvenience\u201d caused by his declaration of martial law.
\nBut he stopped short of stepping down, saying he would leave it to his party to decide his fate.
\nMassive crowds \u2014 police said there were 150,000 people, organizers one million \u2014 gathered outside parliament to pressure lawmakers to oust the president.
\nMany wore elaborate outfits, carrying home-made flags and waving colorful glow sticks and LED candles as K-pop tunes blasted from speakers.
\n\u201cEven though we didn\u2019t get the outcome we wanted today, I am neither discouraged nor disappointed because we will get it eventually,\u201d said protester Jo Ah-gyeong, 30, after the impeachment vote.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll keep coming here until we get it,\u201d she said.
\nRegardless of the political situation, police are investigating Yoon and others for alleged insurrection over the extraordinary events of Tuesday night.
\nEarly Sunday police arrested Kim Yong-hyun, who quit as defense minister on Wednesday and was slapped with a travel ban, reports said.
\nInterior Minister Lee Sang-min on Sunday tendered his resignation which was accepted, Yoon\u2019s office said.
\nDeclaring martial law late Tuesday, Yoon said it would safeguard South Korea \u201cfrom the threats posed by North Korea\u2019s communist forces and eliminate anti-state elements plundering people\u2019s freedom and happiness.\u201d
\nSecurity forces sealed the National Assembly, helicopters landed on the roof and almost 300 soldiers tried to lock down the building.
\nBut as parliamentary staffers blocked the soldiers with sofas and fire extinguishers, enough MPs got inside \u2014 many climbed walls to enter \u2014 and voted down Yoon\u2019s move.
\nThe episode brought back painful memories of South Korea\u2019s autocratic past and blindsided its allies, with the US administration only finding out via television.
\n\u201cThis is a country we\u2019ve spent our entire lives building,\u201d Shin Jae-hyung, 66, who suffered arrest and torture in the 1970s and 80s as he battled successive military-led regimes, said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said that they will try again on December 14 SEOUL South Korea\u2019s main opposition party said Sunday it will try again to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law. Meanwhile police arrested the defense minister in charge of the martial law operation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-448183","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n